This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Stephen Harper in New Zealand on way to Brisbane G20 summit

Stephen Harper in bilateral talks with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key in advance of summit meeting in Australia.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is greeted by New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Bill English (right) as he arrives in Auckland, New Zealand, Thursday November 13, on his way to the Brisbane G20 summit. (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

AUCKLAND, N.Z.—A traditional Maori welcome ceremony saw Prime Minister Stephen Harper lock eyes then press noses with an elder to signal he came in peace to New Zealand.

In a week of war remembrance at home and abroad, Harper then laid a wreath at Auckland’s War Memorial on his first official visit to this South Pacific nation. He would later meet with Prime Minister John Key in advance of the weekend G20 international gathering in Brisbane.

Yet the movement of Russian naval ships through international waters north of Australia — where Harper and others are headed — was a showy reminder the G20 summit is not yet a clubby gathering of like-minded countries.

Article Continued Below

Australia’s defence department announced Thursday it was “monitoring” the Russian ships, but at the same time downplayed concern by pointing to past deployments by Russia “in conjunction with major international summits.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin — branded by Harper and others as the aggressor in Ukraine’s recent violent turmoil — will join Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders at the summit.

The cordon of security around Brisbane tightened, but Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the summit’s host, publicly insisted the agenda will stick to global economic concerns and not be sidetracked.

Abbott turned aside questions about the new climate change deal reached by the U.S. and China. Abbott said jobs and economic growth remain the priority of the meeting and not “what might happen in 16 years’ time.”

Indeed climate change was meant to be only a brief discussion for the G20 meeting, based on reports on the draft communiqué.

Yet the deal does raise important questions for other large, carbon-emitting countries such as India, —whose prime minister, Narendra Modi, will attend the summit — and Canada, which has promised to set emissions targets in lockstep with the U.S.

Harper has yet to comment on the U.S.-China agreement to limit emissions by 2025.

Nor was it clear if Harper would sit down one-on-one in a bilateral meeting with Barack Obama this weekend amid hints from the White House that the president may use a presidential veto on the Keystone XL pipeline, which was quickly passed through Congress this week.

Though Harper and Obama speak often by phone, the last time they sat down together was in February at the North American leaders’ summit in Mexico.

The traditional Maori Powhiri ceremony highlighted a warm welcome to New Zealand by Key, who leads a coalition government.

After the welcoming ceremony, Harper and Key’s bilateral meeting was to focus on security concerns and both countries’ desire to deepen modest trade ties. However, Canada’s high tariffs on dairy products — a point of contention in Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks — are a significant concern for New Zealand.

New Zealand, a dairy producing powerhouse, ships much of its product to China but seeks to expand that trade to global markets.

The Harper-Key meeting was scheduled for late in the day because Key is also hosting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Auckland — a meeting Key said is “significant” in advance of New Zealand taking up a seat on the UN Security Council next year.

“Germany is the world’s fourth biggest economy and Chancellor Merkel’s visit is also a great opportunity to discuss trade and economic opportunities. Our economic links are already strong and two-way trade now exceeds that with the UK,” said Key, in announcing Merkel’s visit.

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com